14/07/2026
I have enjoyed treating some super cute new babies recently and I thought I would share why Gillespie Approach Craniosacral Fascial Therapy is so important for every baby but especially some babies in particular...
When my first baby had big feeding challenges and needed body work, I grappled with the fact that he was born tight. I mean, aren't babies meant to be ok with being in the womb? Weren't they made for it? Why would he be born so tight?
As I have followed the Gillespie Approach CFT years and years later, I have begun to more fully understand that being in the womb actually produces fascial strain, let alone what happens at birth. So even a baby who had a smooth birth can hold fascial strain in their body - enough to make them really unhappy (don't be fooled by a 'happy' baby though, they can carry just as much strain causing just as much havoc), but even more so for a baby who had a difficult birth.
With this in mind, every baby benefits from CFT in their early weeks, to help them unwind whatever they have accumulated during development in the womb and get a great start in life. Gillespie's research showed that babies who received CFT had a much more resilient craniosacral fascial system when it came to normal bumps and knocks as well as bigger injuries.
There are many different infant presentations that can have a root cause of fascial strain, and we can help them along tremendously by supporting them to unwind that strain, subsequently reorganising the muscles and to best of all, feel better in their bodies. Some of the things I've personally seen dramatically improve include feeding challenges, burping, constipation, sleep, range of motion, being unsettled, tension (eg. super tight baby hands that you have to pry open or babies who hate laying on their back), birth trauma, colic.
Gillespie himself recently shared a list of conditions that CFT can help or even correct in newborns/infants:
Reflux/Spit up
Colic/fussiness
Sleeping issues
Difficulty latching
Difficulty sucking
Difficulty swallowing
Difficulty breathing
Failure to thrive
Gas
Indigestion
Constipation
General tightness
Hiccuping
Coughing
Gagging
Choking
Snoring
Difficulty burping
Sandifer Syndrome/arching backwards
Nervous system dysregulation
Developmental delays
Poor range of motion
Poor locomotion
Strabismus/eye misalignment
Tear duct blockage
Sinus congestion
Oral tie issues
Mouth breathing
Tongue clicking
Earaches
Torticollis/favors one side
Plagiocephaly/asymmetrical head
Stridor/breathing sound
Laryngomalacia
Heart murmur
Pyloric stenosis
Hip dysplasia
Circumcision scars
Toe walking
Clubfoot
Hydrocephalus/water on the brain
Chiari malformation
Craniosynostosis
Brain injury
Tag someone who has a baby who needs CFT!
